Executive Digital Footprint

Digital Marketing - Study Notes:

The benefits of social channels

When you are reporting to executives, you will want to focus on the benefits of social channels to the business:

• Company seen as progressive. Consumers get their information in different ways. If you’re not in digital, you’re not listening to many consumers and they’re not hearing you. Using social channels effectively helps people see you as progressive, as an organization that’s keeping up with future trends and is not being left behind.
• Builds awareness of the company and the vision. Social channels help to build awareness of the company and its vision. People, especially in communications teams, are always thinking about ways of doing this. So if they’re not already on board with your strategy, or if you’re not already part of the communications team, they are great people to reach out to, especially if they’re linked in closely with the executive leadership.
• Creates thought leadership. Executive leaders are sometimes wary of thought leadership. They may think that creating thought leadership opportunities takes a lot of time that they don’t have. You can help them understand the benefits of thought leadership to the company, and that thought leadership doesn’t need to be in the form of a CEO blog or similar. It can be something that everyone in the company is empowered to do through what they’re sharing on social channels, through what they’re talking about, and how they’re engaging with things.
• Generates incremental value opportunities. Digital transformation is not something that we do to simply spend money or to churn resources. It’s something that’s going to generate value for the business in one way or another. There certainly have been instances in the past where a social media campaign, either positive or negative, has had a direct impact on the share price of a company. And there might be other benefits of social channels that have longer term impacts on value opportunities.

Establishing an executive digital footprint

The three steps to establishing an executive digital footprint are:

• Take part and take control. Don’t avoid social channels. You need to be there. You need to create an effective executive profile, control your privacy and confidentiality, and efficiently connect with the people that matter.
• Demonstrate leadership. As a digital leader, it’s important to demonstrate leadership and to lead by example. Show that your company is innovative through its socially engaged leaders. Offer an authentic human face to your company. Be a voice for your industry. And be the first stop for press to reach out to if there is a brand crisis.
• Gain distinctive industry insights. You can gain distinctive industry insights by being online. It helps you to stay on top of the leading ideas in your industry, find the best talent available worldwide, and keep tabs on the competition and potential acquisitions.